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Senecio fremontii Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Subalpine, alpine.
Scree, shale, openings. Summer. This lovely Senecio forms beautifully symmetrical, rounded clusters to several feet in diameter on bare gravel and rock and on scree slopes. Its thick, succulent-like leaves vary from bright to light green and from coarsely toothed to deeply incised. An abundance of bright yellow flowers covers the leafy, rounded masses of leaves. Some alpine trails traverse extensive patches of hundreds of Senecio fremontii plants. Since Senecio fremontii is usually above tree-line and often on bare rock, it is quite conspicuous. It is often found in the company of the similar appearing Packera werneriifolia. John Charles Fremont, 1813-1890, Army General, explorer, and collector inspired many 19th century Americans with his adventures in the West. Fremont collected this plant in the Wind River Mountains of present day Montana in 1842 and it was named by John Torrey and Asa Gray in 1843. (More biographical information.) |
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Senecio fremontii
and Senecio inexpectatus Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Subalpine, alpine.
Scree, shale, openings. Summer. Ray flower petals sometimes curl, buds are green to maroon, and the edges of the almost succulent leaves are sharply saw-toothed in S. fremontii variety blitoides, the common variety in Colorado. ("Blitum" is an old genus name for the plant "Strawberry Blite", Chenopodium capitatum, and "oides" is Greek for "similar to".) The bottom picture at left shows a rare form of S. fremontii, perhaps a new Colorado state record, Senecio fremontii variety inexpectatus (Flora of North America calls this S. fremontii variety inexpectans) previously known only from southeast Utah. Leaves are deeply cut and often there are sharp teeth on the lobes. Ray flowers in both species vary in width about as much as is shown in the two photographs. Arthur Cronquist, the lead author for Intermountain Flora, named this variety from a specimen he collected in the La Sal Mountains near Moab in 1961. Cronquist also named S. fremontii variety blitoides. Click for a photograph of the wonderful Colorado location of S. fremontii variety inexpectatus. |
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Senecio fremontii Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Subalpine, alpine.
Scree, shale, openings. Summer. |
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Senecio fremontii Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Subalpine, alpine.
Scree, shale, openings. Summer. Red-tinged leaves will change to green as photosynthesis produces chlorophyll. Then light green and red-tinged buds will unfold to bright yellow flowers. |
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Senecio fremontii Asteraceae (Sunflower Family) Subalpine, alpine.
Scree, shale, openings. Summer. Gone to seed. |
